Green Zone

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List.

Today's review is Green Zone. Directed by Paul Greengrass. Written by Brian Helgeland.
Based on the book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone" written by Rajiv Chandrasekaran.

Before I begin I would like to take this time to dedicate this review to the memory of Stephen Nicholas LePorisz. I will forever be grateful and honored to have had you in my life and part of my family. May your soul shine just as bright in heaven as your smile did here on earth. I will miss you brother.

Making a movie is not an easy feat. However, a bigger challenge could me marketing said movie. Now unless it's the new Spiderman, Batman or Transformers, there will be some marketing needed to get the butts in the seats. Well for this film the powers that be (Universal Studios) deemed it wise to market this film as a sort of poor man's Jason Bourne flick since the star and director were attached to this project. Well if you go into this film expecting a Jason Bourne type adventure you will be severely disappointed. But and this is a big BUT, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what you do see.

Set in 2003 Iraq, Chief Roy Miller played by Matt Damon is the commander of a WMD (weapons of mass destruction) search team. After several raids come up with no weapons found, Miller begins to question the validity of the intelligence that his team is given prior to the missions. His suspicions lead to the discovery of a conspiracy that turns the whole idea of the war upside down.

Two things became very evident after watching this movie.

1) Matt Damon is a bona-fide leading man. I'm sure many of you felt that way already but his performance here slays any lingering doubt. He owns the character in a similar way that Jeremy Renner owned Sergeant William James in The Hurt Locker. The characters aren't similar but the actors playing them literally carry the film. There's no doubt that the Jason Bourne trilogy gave Damon a seat at the action movie table but here he took a giant step at reaching the head of said table.

2) Paul Greengrass has joined the ranks of tinsel town's elite director's. When he was tapped to direct The Bourne Supremacy, I immediately thought it was going to flop. Doug Liman did such a great job with The Bourne Identity that there was no way another director could achieve the same results. Well not only was I wrong I was REALLY WRONG!!!! Greengrass did something that's very rare with a franchise. He took the momentum created from the lead off film and cranked it up a notch. Then with The Bourne Ultimatum he blew you away. The man can flat out tell a story and does so using a visual style that doesn't compromise the integrity of the project. He instead blends it together masterfully where the end result is just a damn good movie. The academy apparently agreed with me when he was nominated for Best Director for United 93 in 2006. This man knows what he's doing and the rest of Hollywood better pay attention or get out of his way.

Green Zone has much more to offer than just these 2 elements. The rest of the cast is superb. Greg Kinnear as the weasel-esc Clark Poundstone, Brendan Gleeson as CIA man Martin Brown and Amy Ryan as Wall Street Journal reporter Lawrie Dayne head up a very strong supporting group.

The script is tight throughout. The dialogue is sharp yet idiot proof. The exposition is kept to a minimum while maintaining a very intriguing plot.

I would love to say more but I am compelled to kill the keyboard strokes and call it a night.

On the 5 star scale. Green Zone gets 4 stars with a Big Time "Worth Every Penny" recommendation.

Damon shines as always. Greengrass presents a solid story with suspense, mystery and most of all a plausible finish. Well Done.

Go see this movie. You will not be disappointed.

That's all for today. Up next is possibly Dreamworks: How To Train Your Dragon then drum roll please................Clash of The Titans YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until Next Episode......"I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"